*CRACK!!!*
With a thunderous burst, Godfrey's head erupted, splattering viscous yellow fluid everywhere.
Heisenberg released Godfrey's corpse and shook his hand, his expression utterly blank.
Since arriving in this world, he had never encountered such an unreasonable request.
To actually *ask* to die at my hands…
Did he not realize this would soil them?
But then again, considering the passionate vows spilling from his mouth—
Heisenberg was, of course, more than happy to oblige him!
Crushing the man's skull had been no challenge at all. His physical conditioning was merely average—just barely a cut above Wonder Woman's.
What abilities did he even possess? If this was all he amounted to, then the so-called Dark Elite was turning out to be dreadfully underwhelming.
As he mused, Heisenberg used his force field to levitate Godfrey's body and hurled it toward the Scholar standing not far away.
In the blink of an eye, Godfrey's corpse slammed into the bloody remains of Granny Goodness.
Hadn't he wanted to be with his woman?
Well, now they were together!
Heisenberg couldn't say whether the two of them were happy at this moment, but judging by their current external appearance…
Happy or not was uncertain—but disgusting? That was absolutely guaranteed!
"Scholar, take this one down as well. Run the genetic analysis along with the rest, and work out a contingency plan."
"Yes, my lord!"
The Scholar, cradling both corpses, nodded respectfully. Without another word, he abandoned the magnetic device and returned directly to the Divine Kingdom ship.
In the distance, Steppenwolf had already been shocked to the core by Heisenberg's ruthlessness.
Without hesitation, he spun around and continued hacking apart the various creatures closing in on him.
As for seeking death…
*Ahem…*
Darkseid's Dark Elite had just lost two of its finest warriors. This was precisely the moment His Majesty needed fresh strength and renewed support!
He *must* preserve this useful body of his, so that he might sacrifice himself at a more critical juncture for His Majesty's sake!!!
Unfortunately, what Steppenwolf didn't realize at this very moment was that his so-called sacrifices…
Darkseid had witnessed them all.
Within the main hall of the Divine Palace on Apokolips, the holographic display had already laid everything bare before him.
Whether it was Steppenwolf's heroic roar in the face of injustice, or Godfrey's utterly meaningless act of self-destruction…
All of it—every last detail—made Darkseid press his lips together.
That face of his, which normally wore either a sinister grin or no expression at all, finally showed the faintest trace of displeasure.
Abruptly, he rose to his feet and issued orders to Desaad below.
"Barely a few blinks of an eye have passed,
and already the toy has become something of a nuisance.
Instruct the Dark Elite to prepare. All members currently on Apokolips will depart with me shortly."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Desaad bowed respectfully, then turned and strode out of the great hall.
…
On Huìhé Star, even Heisenberg had no idea he was being observed.
He glanced around, then called out to the other Scholars nearby.
"How much longer until the device is ready?"
"My lord, thirty-two seconds and counting!"
"Hm."
Heisenberg nodded, then made his way over to Clark.
Clark was clearly still somewhat dazed at this point. Even when Heisenberg patted his arm, he didn't respond right away.
It was Heisenberg who spoke first.
"How does it feel, being controlled?"
"Ah?"
Clark blinked.
"Great-Grandfather, you're here."
At this, Clark looked somewhat sheepish. He pursed his lips helplessly and quipped at his own expense.
"That feeling is truly unbearable. I kept thinking—there's nothing left in this world worth believing in.
Everything I saw, everything I heard, everything I felt—none of it was necessarily real.
Even when I was just standing there, I worried about whether I might be hurting someone!"
After he finished, Clark drew a deep breath and looked back at Heisenberg.
"Great-Grandfather, do you have any good methods for dealing with enemies like that?"
"Just punch them to death with one blow."
Heisenberg curled his lip. His usual method involved the System,
but that wasn't exactly something he could explain to Clark, now was it?
Hearing Heisenberg's answer, Clark couldn't help but roll his eyes.
What do you do when your great-grandfather is too powerful?
You can't even communicate with him!!!
Nearby, Bruce quietly sidled up to Clark and asked,
"Clark, when you were being controlled just now—why did you suddenly gag twice?"
As he asked, Bruce was already thinking: if Clark was willing to share this answer with him, he might just gain yet another method of defending against Superman.
So, with genuine anticipation, he fixed Clark with an unusually serious gaze.
But the more serious Bruce looked, the more uncomfortable Clark became.
Clark took two steps back, then, suppressing his nausea, said to Bruce,
"Trust me, Bruce—you absolutely do *not* want to know the answer to that question."
"Hm?"
Bruce's brow furrowed. Across from him, Clark immediately retreated another two steps.
Seeing this, Bruce shook his head helplessly.
It seemed whatever Clark had heard while his senses were being manipulated was significant. Otherwise, he wouldn't normally choose to withhold information.
In that case…
Bruce's face hardened with resolve.
Once this battle was over, he would have to find a way to pry the answer out of him.
Even if it meant secretly installing lead-shielded listening devices in Clark's home, he would find more ways to restrain Superman!
With that thought, Bruce left Clark's side and threw himself back into the fray, joining the slaughter of the creatures and Parademons pouring out of the Boom Tube.
Godfrey and Granny Goodness had possessed fundamentally different abilities.
Granny's power primarily targeted one or several individuals at a time, using her abilities to tamper with and influence their senses and thoughts.
Therefore, after her death, her power simply vanished.
Godfrey, however, was an entirely different matter.
Though also a master of control, Godfrey's ability worked primarily by replacing the *banner* in the minds of group-oriented beings.
Take, for instance, the Green Lanterns he had controlled.
Those Lanterns had originally fought for the justice in their hearts.
But Godfrey had directly swapped their "fight for justice" with "fight for Godfrey."
In the minds of the Lanterns who had become his slaves, they still believed they were fighting for their own justice.
This replacement was permanent—but its weakness lay in the fact that, while it could control countless people simultaneously, it only worked on targets weaker than Godfrey himself.
Thus, although his ability held greater value on a strategic level, his standing in Darkseid's eyes still fell short of his sister's.
Because Darkseid, as one who had long since become a powerhouse, understood with absolute clarity: numbers could only ever exert influence at the level of the weak.
At his level—
the level of a multiverse-class powerhouse—
how did that saying go?
*Beneath the multiverse, all are but ants!*
On Huìhé Star, Heisenberg glanced left and right, then issued a quiet command.
"Everyone, the magnetic charge is nearly complete. Expand the battlefield outward, and stay clear of the device at the center!"
At his words, the remaining Kryptonians immediately took up positions at various angles, unleashing surging heat vision in every direction beyond the crowd.
In an instant, more than forty beams of crimson light bloomed like magnificent flowers, clearing out ample space all around.
The Amazon and Atlantean warriors seized this window, spreading outward at speeds exceeding three hundred meters per second.
A dozen or so seconds later, the Flash delivered the last Atlantean still locked in combat to safety, then returned to Heisenberg's side, gazing at the magnetic impact device before them.
As its charging and preparation concluded, the massive turbine-shaped machine roared to life, tearing apart the surface before their eyes in the blink of an eye!
At the same time, the shattered earth and metal were swept up by the unceasing magnetic field, transformed into even greater power, and driven ever deeper into the planet.
*RUMBLE!!!*
A thunderous roar. Two seconds.
Huìhé Star—a colossal planet one hundred sixty thousand kilometers in diameter—was pierced clean through by the magnetic device!
Only after the device had bored through Huìhé Star and its energy was fully spent did the surrounding ground finally begin to quake.
The earth beneath Heisenberg's feet now resembled the surface of water.
The soil rolled and churned like waves.
The Flash had initially wanted to savor the spectacle.
But the moment the tremors began spreading, he bolted for the distance without a second thought.
From beginning to end, the only ones who could stand calmly and appreciate the sight of Huìhé Star being pierced were Heisenberg and the other Kryptonians.
Bruce, of course, also remained in place—though Diana raised her shield to share part of the burden with him, and Clark gave him an extra pull.
It wasn't until half a minute later that the trembling of the earth slowly faded, and the dust and countless iron filings finally settled to the ground.
Only then could the warriors who had struggled to hold their footing throughout the tremors finally open their eyes wide and take in the ruins and wreckage before them.
When they warily approached the edge of the unfathomably deep chasm—
when they leaned forward and peered into that endlessly distant abyss—
they saw with perfect clarity:
countless shattered metal structures,
and a passage stretching boundlessly onward, extending all the way into the cosmos.
/-\
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